Caps Corner

Shout outs from the fans

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

As we anxiously await the, hopefully, climactic end of the 2008-09 NFL football season, I realize that my family and I had a lot of good football memories occur this past year.

My eight year old son Mark played in his first Fauquier county sports football league.They went 2 and 6; but that really did not matter. They all had great fun and really enjoyed themselves.

One of the highlights of the season is Spirit Night. That is when all the youth sports and cheer leading teams get to run out on the local high school field at half time and go through some exhibition plays and routines. They get formally introduced by the announcer as they run out on the field accompanied by the high school band. They are the team in red with the Falcons logos.

A funny side note to this is that William,our 2 year old,thinks he is really 8 and a member of the team.

In fact, he kept trying on Mark's gear.

We also saw our first Redskins NFL games at FedEx Field this year. One of my co-workers got "the letter" saying that his number was up and he now had an opportunity to purchase season tickets.

3
comments:

Good stuff!!!! Youth football is one of the greatest, most pure things in sports. Watching kids that play the game for the SOLE purpose of playing the game is great. Even at the high school level, the idea of playing changes. It goes from "playing for fun" to "playing for a chance to get into college." The game changes a lot the older that kids get. I keep telling myself that I need to go and coach with a guy that I work with. He coaches about 4 youth football teams in my area, and all of them have varying degrees of success. He's constantly telling me he could use some assistants to work with the defense...which is what I would be interested in. He stops short of just asking me, though, because I think he wants me to inquire to him about it.

I work in an airport, and as such I end up getting a chance to meet quite a few athletes. The Michigan State Spartans football and basketball teams are regularly flying out. However, one of the highlights of my career at the airport was a day when a certain magical receiver with long braids came to my station. Shortly after he was drafted, All Universe Superstar Receiver Larry Fitzgerald was visiting his girlfriend and a friend at Michigan State and was flying back to Arizona. To my surprise, the guy was the most humble individual I ever could have imagined. He seemed actually surprised that I recognized him, and was kind enough to spend a few moments talking with me about football. He even asked me how things had been going at my job. Amazing individual. The kind of guy that even though he's getting paid millions, makes me think that there are still athletes out there that are playing to play...not to make money.

Thanks for the comments!Over time, I have realized that the "success" comes from just getting out there and doing it.It's amazing to see how much both the kids and coaches get out of football; so Gimp, if you have the time and energy, by all means give coaching a try!Another person, athlete, I would put into the "play for the game" and "humble people" category is Darrell Green. I had the pleasure of meeting him a number of years ago at a community function and luncheon.